My first time here in a while... others too, it seems. Dunno why, I had thought maybe people were finding companionship and understanding elsewhere (facebook maybe) but I'm not.

Tonight my daughter's cat died, she just got into bed with her as usual, miaowed once and keeled over. Last week we buried my wife, who died of cancer on 12th May - last September, aged 69, working 10 hour days; 7 months later, pushing up the daisies. I had to give up work to look after her and now have to find if anyone still wants me to work for them. On February 7th my father died aged 91 and a quarter (as he said in his obituary which he had prepared earlier - it was funny reading the things he wrote). Now it appears that I have prostate cancer, currently awaiting the results of a biopsy.

So I lost my father in February, and my wife of 37 years in May after nursing her through bowel and liver cancer. Now my daughter has had a row with my No. 3 son and moved out, and won't even meet me for a coffee. I'm only still here because I have 4 kids who all live near, and my mother is alive and well. Life isn't a bowl of all-bran anymore. It may be second-hand all-bran.